Abstract

Large optical nonlinearities due to optically created carriers modifying the absorption near the band gap in semiconductors have been used for the demonstration of all-optical switching.¹ The speed of recovery of such devices is limited by recombination rates. Surface recombination offers an attractive method for speeding up device response because the bulk optical properties need not be degraded.² We report the measurement of surface recombination velocities in InGaAs/InP QW structures formed by chemical beam epitaxy followed by anisotropic plasma etching to form mesa structures. We find surface recombination velocities almost 2 orders of magnitude smaller than those reported³ for bulk GaAs.

© 1988 Optical Society of America